Alabama may OK brewing beer at home

State House, Senate working on identical beer bills

Identical versions of a bill that would legalize home brewing of beer are making their way through the Alabama House and Senate.

File photo

By Mark Hughes CobbStaff Writer

Published: Sunday, February 24, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, February 23, 2013 at 10:44 p.m.

After what has been a five-year struggle — or 80 years, depending how you view it — Alabama could soon become the 49th or 50th state to legalize home brewing of beer.

Identical versions of a bill are making their way through the House and Senate. HB9 cleared the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee last week and should come to a floor vote soon. SB171 also made it past the Senate Job Creation & Economic Development Committee. If either version is approved by both House and Senate, it will go to Gov. Robert Bentley.

Mississippi, the other holdout state, also has home brewing legislation pending.

“Hopefully we’ll get this taken care of in both Mississippi and Alabama this year,” said Gary Glass, director of the American Homebrewers Association of Boulder, Colo.

The legislation seeks to override what might have been a clerical error in 1933, when federal Prohibition was repealed, leaving it legal to make your own wine at home, but not beer, he said.

Beer dates back to about 9500 BC, when cereal was first farmed, making it probably mankind’s oldest fermented beverage. It’s mentioned in the written histories of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, including the Code of Hammurabi from 1772 BC. The Hymn to Ninkasi was both a prayer to the Sumerian beer goddess and a recipe memory code for a mostly illiterate culture. It’s the most popular alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular overall, following tea and water.

Early America’s link to home brewing came about because water sanitation practices left something to be desired.

“The first English settlements that colonized Virginia and the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock; both brewed beer,” Glass said. “Homebrewing was a very common practice and something that was in just about every household. In England, the water was not very safe to drink; they didn’t know why, but did know that drinking beer would not get you sick.”

To make beer, water is boiled; the hops used inhibit the growth of microbes, thus making it safer than untreated water.

Native Americans had been brewing their own beer out of corn, and European-style beer was mostly home-brewed in colonial years, until 1612, when the first professional brewery opened in what’s now Manhattan. Two hundred years later, there were 132 breweries in the U.S., with per capita consumption of commercial beer at less than a gallon. In the next 60 years, breweries exploded, until by 1873 there were 4,131 in the U.S., with 1914 per capita consumption of commercial beer at 20 gallons.

Attempting to stem the foamy tide, individual states had instituted some form of Prohibition as far back as 1848. National Prohibition came about through the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, known as the Volstead Act. It went into effect Jan. 16, 1920, sending home brewing underground.

“Companies like Miller and Pabst and Anheuser Busch transitioned from making beer to making malt extract, which could then be used to make beer at home,” Glass said, making them in the business of supplying home brewers. After Prohibition was repealed, home brewing choked off, partly because ingredient access dried up, partly because those big brewers had swung back in full force.

The 1960s brought a resurgence with the do-it-yourself, back-to-the-land thrust of some of the counterculture. Shops selling home-brewing equipment popped up first in Berkeley, Calif., then Los Angeles. The American Homebrewers Association started in 1978, when federal laws were passed to correct that Prohibition-era oversight for beer.

“It is legal to make five gallons of wine per household for use yourself,” said Kim Thomson, who has owned and run ALABREW Homebrewing Supplies in Pelham for 16 years now. “What we sell is winemaking supplies; how you make your wine is up to you.”

The bills in the state Legislature resulted from years of efforts by Right To Brew out of Huntsville; that group managed to catch the attention of Sen. Larry Dixon, who like many was unaware of the state’s restrictions on home brewing. Right to Brew comprises home brewers seeking to clear up misconceptions about their craft — mainly that it’s a form of bootlegging.

“We just passed 16 years in business, so there’s quite a few people doing it already. I don’t know how many are at home hiding in fear of the law,” Thomson said, laughing.

Dixon sponsored bills in 2009 and 2010, and although both passed the Senate, sessions ended before they could pass. In 2011, Rep. Mac McCutcheon, also from the 25th District, created a bill nearly identical to Dixon’s 2010 version. The ABC Board asked for changes, after which it passed the House Economic Development & Tourism Committee, but it failed before the House, 47-27. In 2012 McCutcheon tried again, with a new bill cut with compromises to gain more votes; this passed the House, then bounced around Senate committees, but never made it to a full vote before the session ran out.

Homebrewers are hopeful this time, because the bills now in motion are virtually identical to the 2012 version, and seem to be moving forward in a timely fashion, Glass said.

“It’s basically just been a process of education,” he said. Home brewers aren’t seeking to supplant Budweiser, or even popular microbreweries such as Abita and SweetWater. They’re hobbyists who like to do it themselves, and maybe craft a drink exactly to their liking.

“American breweries in the 20th century concentrated on a light lager, a kind of homogeneous flavor that wasn’t necessarily very interesting to those who’d traveled to Europe, to Germany, Belgium and England,” he said. “Home brewers can make beer not only like other craft beers they’ve tasted, but can make beers to their own personal taste, selecting the kinds of hops, the types of yeast.

“It’s easy to share with friends, to give as gifts, and say ‘Hey, I made this.’ ”

Many of the country’s microbreweries are being opened by people who started as home brewers, Glass said. Right after Prohibition there were fewer than 50 breweries in the U.S.; today there are more than 2,000, most of them microbreweries in the business of craft-style beers.

“Finding the numbers of home brewers is a challenge, but there are probably at least a million people in the U.S. making beer and wine at home,” he said. In 2011, retail sales for shops that specialize in home brew supplies were up on average 24 percent.

The bills before the Legislature seem to be facing no significant obstacles this time around, he said.

“They’ll allow home brewers in the state of Alabama to practice their hobby the way the rest of the people in the country do.”

<p>After what has been a five-year struggle — or 80 years, depending how you view it — Alabama could soon become the 49th or 50th state to legalize home brewing of beer.</p><p>Identical versions of a bill are making their way through the House and Senate. HB9 cleared the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee last week and should come to a floor vote soon. SB171 also made it past the Senate Job Creation & Economic Development Committee. If either version is approved by both House and Senate, it will go to Gov. Robert Bentley.</p><p>Mississippi, the other holdout state, also has home brewing legislation pending.</p><p>“Hopefully we'll get this taken care of in both Mississippi and Alabama this year,” said Gary Glass, director of the American Homebrewers Association of Boulder, Colo. </p><p>The legislation seeks to override what might have been a clerical error in 1933, when federal Prohibition was repealed, leaving it legal to make your own wine at home, but not beer, he said.</p><p>Beer dates back to about 9500 BC, when cereal was first farmed, making it probably mankind's oldest fermented beverage. It's mentioned in the written histories of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, including the Code of Hammurabi from 1772 BC. The Hymn to Ninkasi was both a prayer to the Sumerian beer goddess and a recipe memory code for a mostly illiterate culture. It's the most popular alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular overall, following tea and water.</p><p>Early America's link to home brewing came about because water sanitation practices left something to be desired.</p><p>“The first English settlements that colonized Virginia and the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock; both brewed beer,” Glass said. “Homebrewing was a very common practice and something that was in just about every household. In England, the water was not very safe to drink; they didn't know why, but did know that drinking beer would not get you sick.” </p><p>To make beer, water is boiled; the hops used inhibit the growth of microbes, thus making it safer than untreated water.</p><p>Native Americans had been brewing their own beer out of corn, and European-style beer was mostly home-brewed in colonial years, until 1612, when the first professional brewery opened in what's now Manhattan. Two hundred years later, there were 132 breweries in the U.S., with per capita consumption of commercial beer at less than a gallon. In the next 60 years, breweries exploded, until by 1873 there were 4,131 in the U.S., with 1914 per capita consumption of commercial beer at 20 gallons.</p><p>Attempting to stem the foamy tide, individual states had instituted some form of Prohibition as far back as 1848. National Prohibition came about through the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, known as the Volstead Act. It went into effect Jan. 16, 1920, sending home brewing underground.</p><p>“Companies like Miller and Pabst and Anheuser Busch transitioned from making beer to making malt extract, which could then be used to make beer at home,” Glass said, making them in the business of supplying home brewers. After Prohibition was repealed, home brewing choked off, partly because ingredient access dried up, partly because those big brewers had swung back in full force.</p><p>The 1960s brought a resurgence with the do-it-yourself, back-to-the-land thrust of some of the counterculture. Shops selling home-brewing equipment popped up first in Berkeley, Calif., then Los Angeles. The American Homebrewers Association started in 1978, when federal laws were passed to correct that Prohibition-era oversight for beer.</p><p>“It is legal to make five gallons of wine per household for use yourself,” said Kim Thomson, who has owned and run ALABREW Homebrewing Supplies in Pelham for 16 years now. “What we sell is winemaking supplies; how you make your wine is up to you.”</p><p>The bills in the state Legislature resulted from years of efforts by Right To Brew out of Huntsville; that group managed to catch the attention of Sen. Larry Dixon, who like many was unaware of the state's restrictions on home brewing. Right to Brew comprises home brewers seeking to clear up misconceptions about their craft — mainly that it's a form of bootlegging.</p><p>“We just passed 16 years in business, so there's quite a few people doing it already. I don't know how many are at home hiding in fear of the law,” Thomson said, laughing.</p><p>Dixon sponsored bills in 2009 and 2010, and although both passed the Senate, sessions ended before they could pass. In 2011, Rep. Mac McCutcheon, also from the 25th District, created a bill nearly identical to Dixon's 2010 version. The ABC Board asked for changes, after which it passed the House Economic Development & Tourism Committee, but it failed before the House, 47-27. In 2012 McCutcheon tried again, with a new bill cut with compromises to gain more votes; this passed the House, then bounced around Senate committees, but never made it to a full vote before the session ran out.</p><p>Homebrewers are hopeful this time, because the bills now in motion are virtually identical to the 2012 version, and seem to be moving forward in a timely fashion, Glass said.</p><p>“It's basically just been a process of education,” he said. Home brewers aren't seeking to supplant Budweiser, or even popular microbreweries such as Abita and SweetWater. They're hobbyists who like to do it themselves, and maybe craft a drink exactly to their liking. </p><p>“American breweries in the 20th century concentrated on a light lager, a kind of homogeneous flavor that wasn't necessarily very interesting to those who'd traveled to Europe, to Germany, Belgium and England,” he said. “Home brewers can make beer not only like other craft beers they've tasted, but can make beers to their own personal taste, selecting the kinds of hops, the types of yeast. </p><p>“It's easy to share with friends, to give as gifts, and say 'Hey, I made this.' ”</p><p>Many of the country's microbreweries are being opened by people who started as home brewers, Glass said. Right after Prohibition there were fewer than 50 breweries in the U.S.; today there are more than 2,000, most of them microbreweries in the business of craft-style beers.</p><p>“Finding the numbers of home brewers is a challenge, but there are probably at least a million people in the U.S. making beer and wine at home,” he said. In 2011, retail sales for shops that specialize in home brew supplies were up on average 24 percent.</p><p>The bills before the Legislature seem to be facing no significant obstacles this time around, he said.</p><p>“They'll allow home brewers in the state of Alabama to practice their hobby the way the rest of the people in the country do.”</p>